Malian Military Junta Scuttles Security Partnerships while Militant Violence Surges
The military junta in Mali has alienated regional and international security partners amid escalating violence by militant Islamist groups, leading to a spike in civilian fatalities.
The Persistence of Cults of Personality in African Governance
African leaders who hold power indefinitely often employ cults of personality to consolidate power, demand personal fealty, and systematically undermine independent governance institutions.
Topic in Focus
Democracy
A series of Africa Center analyses that unpack how democracy and security in Africa are closely intertwined.
Strengthening Sahelian Counterinsurgency Strategy
Adapting Sahelian force structures to lighter, more mobile, and integrated units will better support the population-centric COIN practices needed to reverse the escalating trajectory of violent extremist attacks.
Rwanda and the DRC at Risk of War as New M23 Rebellion Emerges: An Explainer
The seeming rapid deterioration of security in the eastern DRC and resurgence of M23 are an outcome of longstanding regional rivalries between Rwanda and Uganda.
Topic in Focus: Natural Resources and Conflict
France and Russia continue to use armed proxies to maintain their influence in CAR. President Touadera has used his position, and the country’s vast diamond and gold resources, to sustain criminalized patronage networks rather than provide citizens, half of whom survive on emergency foreign aid, with security and economic development opportunities. As presidential elections approached in December 2020, the regime sought to maintain power, using the pandemic as an excuse to attempt to delay the vote. The Khartoum agreement has been rendered useless, serving only to entrench a criminalized regime. The UN and EU should implement concrete measures to combat this war economy.
A strong correlation exists between erratic wet seasons and conflict in areas where transhumant pastoralism spills into agricultural areas. Adverse rainfall shocks in transhumant pastoral territories force groups to migrate to neighboring agricultural territories before final harvest, increasing the likelihood of conflict. Where transhumant pastoral groups have less political power, the likelihood is even greater. Governments must enforce a balance of grazing and cultivating rights to mitigate the growing threat of increased droughts and declining rainfall in agropastoral zones.